NEW YORK -- A Vermont-based group that returns lost Purple Heart medals to veterans and families returned eight of the military decorations during a ceremony in New York City.

Purple Hearts Reunited founder Zachariah Fike says the Purple Hearts were returned on Monday because it is National Purple Heart Day.

Fike says seven of the medals were given to families of American servicemen who served in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.

The eighth medal was presented to Daniel Swift, a city firefighter who was serving in Iraq with the New York Army National Guard in 2004 when he was injured by a roadside bomb that killed two fellow guardsmen who were also members of the New York City Fire Department.